Etched in Parchment
by American Witch
Summary: It's all over, the war has ended and Hermione Granger is paying her last respects to those she loved and lost during the war. But even though the end has come, there is also a beginning. A beginning to a new life filled with hope, happiness and love.


Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling who I do not know, though would love to meet one day.

Hello Readers,  
First I want to thank you so much for giving my fan fiction a chance. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I've written a few other fan fictions before but this is one of my favorites. I hope you keep coming back for more. :)  
Love Always,  
Heather

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_**CHAPTER ONE**_

_The Beginning of the End_

_Saturday June 14, 1997_

_Dear Diary,_

_The entire week I've been attending funerals and memorial services. Just yesterday I said my last goodbye to Tonks and Lupin, two of the greatest people I have ever known, and I will miss them greatly. It's been hard letting go, sometimes I don't know if I'll be able to at all. I don't want to let go._

_As difficult as this past week has been, today was definitely the hardest. _

_The fact that Fred is gone will always lay heavy on my heart. He was like a brother to me and it's never going to be the same without him here. The service was lovely and hundreds of people came to show their respects. They all whispered to themselves about how it was such a shame to loose such a young boy, but only the ones who really knew Fred cried at having lost such a great person. _

_The thing I'll miss most about Fred is…everything. He was smart and talented and he had a good heart. I never approved of all the things he did, but they were out of goodness. He brought laughter to peoples faces and that is perhaps the best magic there is. _

_But Diary, Fred's funeral isn't the only thing that happened today. Something amazing occurred just this morning and my heart is still beating so fast from all of it…_

With a heavy sigh I finished pulling my hair back and took one last look at myself in the mirror. The knee length black skirt looked nice with the short sleeve white blouse, and though I knew I could do something more with my hair there was no need to. Today was about saying goodbye to Fred, nothing else mattered.

I slipped on my shoes and was just about to turn out the light and leave Ginny's room when a small knock came from the door.

"Come in." I called.

The door opened just enough for Ron to stick his head through. "Can you talk for a minute?" He asked. I nodded and he came in and closed the door behind him.

We stood there awkwardly for a minute, facing each other. Ron was swaying his arms annoyingly at his sides. My finger wrapped around a stray curl that had escaped from its ties and fell behind my right ear.

It had been like this for the last couple of weeks, awkward whenever we were near each other. Sure in the heat of the moment it had been all well and good to kiss each other, but once everything was over and things had settled down a new sense of nervousness had developed between the two of us – even worse than it had been before I kissed him.

It wasn't like the kiss was bad or anything. On the contrary, it was amazing. It's hard to describe just how I felt when his lips touched mine, but it was something like a mixture of slow lovingness mixed with an intense burning for more. And it just felt right, every second of it. It seems corny, but it was perfect, better than what I had imagined.

Being like this was quite silly. I wasn't unaware of Ron's feelings for me and he would have to be a complete imbecile not to realize how I felt about him. But it had been odd after everything was over. I wasn't really sure why, it just was. Maybe both of us were afraid to make the first move. That would surely explain a lot about the way Ron had been acting. Every time we got to close, for both our comforts, he would pull away a little. And I couldn't bring myself to talk about it with everything that was going on, especially since there wasn't a moment that Ron and I could find alone together.

So the fact that he had come to me, and that we were actually completely alone surprised me greatly. It also made me really nervous.

"So um…do you want to sit down?" I asked pointing to Ginny's bed. It was piled high with clothes and some of Ginny's old books.

"Yea...sure, ok."

After I pushed the mess to the side we sat next to each other but faced away from each other. He shook his leg nervously, while I continued to wrap that stray curl around my finger.

It was awhile before he turned to me and spoke again. It looked like he was concentrating hard on something.

"Hermione I wanted to tell you…

"Yea, Ron…"

"You look nice today."

"Oh, thanks. You look nice too." And he did. He was wearing a black suit with a tie, his shoes were shined and his hair was even brushed. "Just, here, Ron, let me fix this." I reached over to straighten his tie. He stiffened as I did so and I pulled away as soon as I was done.

"Thanks." He said, his cheeks were burning red.

Why did it have to be so odd? It didn't used to be like this. We used to joke around and have fun. He would make me laugh so hard my sides hurt. Why couldn't it be the same as before? Why couldn't we just tell each other how we feel?

The sun shining through the window reflected off his hair and made it look an even brighter shade of red than it already was, if that was possible. Ron's red hair was one of my favorite things about him. It seemed to symbolize everything that was Ron. It was loud, but sweet at the same time. It was different, but definitely in a good way. It was fiery too, just like Ron could get when he was angry.

Suddenly Ron got this serious look on his face and turned to look directly into my eyes. "Hermione," he said, "I want to talk to you about us."

"Excuse me?" I asked, thinking maybe I had heard him wrong. There were a lot of things I expected him to say to me. Things like 'I want to talk to you about Fred' or 'I want to talk to you about my mom' since she's been a complete wreck since Fred died. But the word 'us' never crossed my mind and I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I want to talk to you about us." He repeated.

"What about us?" It came across more sharply then I wanted it too, but I was so surprised about the sudden change in conversation. His cheeks turned a dark shade of red that spread down his neck and over his ears. Immediately I regretted what I had said.

He began to play with a hole in Ginny's comforter. Finally he continued.

"Well I was wondering…

"Yea…"

And then he started rambling on and on about a mile a minute without stopping to take a breath.

"Hermione, I was wondering if there _was_ an _us_. You and me I mean. Because well, I don't know if it meant anything to you, but that kiss was…Wow. I mean I've been dreaming about it for a long time, and I can't believe I'm telling you all of this, but anyway, it was better than what I ever thought it would be. And I need to know if you feel the same way about me as I do about you, because I really, really like you Hermione, I have for a long time. I know it may not seem like I do sometimes, but it's because I always mess up when you're around. I can't help it, you just make me so nervous that I can't think right and then I just mess up. I'm really sor ---"

"Ron shut up!" I shouted and jumped off the bed. His face fell and he looked down at his shoes. My insides panged with guilt, my words had come out wrong again. "I'm sorry. What I mean is, Can I say something before you pass out from lack of oxygen?"

A smile spread across his lips as he looked back into my eyes. I sat back down next to him on the bed and I covered his hand with my own. Flashes of electricity went up my arm at the touch.

"I really, really like you too. And that kiss was better than I ever dreamed."

And before I knew what was happening his lips were on mine and it was better than the first time. It was soft and filled with feeling. It filled me up with such warmth that I didn't think I would ever be cold again. I wanted to remain in that moment forever; just kissing him and having him hold me. It was there that I belonged and where I would always belong…

_The moment his lips touched mine it was like a thousand bolts of electricity passed through my body and charged up my heart so that it beat a million miles a minute. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before in my entire life and I only wish he was here right now to hold me in his arms where I feel safe and secure, where I feel I belong._

_Though certain sadness surrounds all our lives right now from loosing so much in such a short time, I can't help but be filled with so much joy and happiness. It's like rays from the sun are following me wherever I go to make every minute of my life bright and warm. So maybe these happy moments are the beginning. The beginning of the end of a terrible war that has hurt so many and done so much harm and brought about so much hate. There only needs to be more moments like the one I shared with Ron today to fill the hole created by Voldemort and to create a happy world once again. _


End file.
